Sentenced to Be a Hero: Penal Hero Unit 9004 Records — Requiem of the Transmigrated Poet
Kuon Kanade had one dream: to be a poet. For that, his classmates laughed at him. For that, he learned to make himself invisible—eating lunch alone in the library corner, humming where no one could hear, surviving on poetry collections and silence.
Then a strange book called *Resonance* swallowed him whole.
He wakes in a world of towering bookshelves and pointed ears, where a burning mark has appeared on his neck—a holy mark. By the laws of this continent, all who bear one are conscripted as h
Sentenced to Be a Hero: Penal Hero Unit 9004 Records — Requiem of the Transmigrated Poet - The Iron-Masked Fiancée and the Singer's Place to Return
Morning light fell across the white walls of the infirmary.
St. Mary's, the treatment house of Mürid Fortress, was quietly filled with those bearing the scars of battle. The smell of bandages, the bitter scent of medicinal herbs, and a faint trace of blood—all mingled together, sealing in the lingering echoes of a long night.
Kuon Kanade awoke in a bed by the window.
His eyelids were heavy. A dull ache throbbed all over his body.
(...Huh. Me?)
His throat burned. Just breathing scraped against the wound. He moved his fingertips. They trembled faintly.
"...Water."
A voiceless sound slipped from between his lips.
Then, from beside the bed, a low voice descended.
"You're awake."
Kanade slowly turned his head.
A tall man stood with his back against the wall. His short, near-black dark brown hair was still soiled with soot. The old scar on his left cheek floated up in the morning sun. The lightning sacred marks carved into his limbs flickered faintly, perhaps from exhaustion.
Zairo Forbarts, captain of Penal Hero Unit 9004.
"Zairo... san..."
"Don't talk. Your throat's wrecked."
Zairo poured water from a carelessly placed pitcher into a chipped wooden cup. Then he approached Kanade's bedside and thrust it out without ceremony.
"Can you drink?"
Kanade took the cup with trembling hands, cradling it with both to keep from spilling. One sip, and the back of his throat slowly moistened.
"Thank you... very much."
"...Tch. Don't thank me. It's a pain in the ass."
Even as he said it, Zairo watched intently until Kanade finished the water.
Beside him, flame-like golden hair swayed softly.
"You've woken well, singer of my knight."
Theolitta, goddess of the sword, looked down at Kanade, her snow-white skin translucent in the morning light. Her burning red eyes narrowed in delight.
"Do you know how bored I was while you slept? Wake up quickly and praise me."
A small spark scattered from the tips of Theolitta's hair with a crackle. Sparks flew when her emotions ran high—that was her quirk.
"I'm sorry, for worrying you..."
"I was not worried. I merely thought it unacceptable that the singer of my knight would show such a weakened form."
Theolitta snorted.
But those red eyes were fixed on Kanade's face. And her tone was far softer than her usual arrogance.
Kanade felt a slow warmth spreading deep in his chest.
(I'm alive.)
He had sealed Ibris. With song, he had turned that giant to crystal.
His memory after that was hazy. As he kept singing, his consciousness had drifted away, and before he knew it, he was here.
"...Ibris?"
"Sealed. Fully crystallized by your song. It won't move again."
Zairo's voice was short and forceful.
"I see..."
Kanade let out a breath of relief.
The tension drained from his shoulders.
(Thank goodness.)
(Is everyone else safe?)
"What about Dotta-san and Tatsuya-san..."
"Dotta's in treatment. Nothing life-threatening. Tatsuya got his helmet fixed after all that and is eating right now."
"I see. That's good..."
Kanade meant it from the bottom of his heart.
"That's not your concern. Focus on healing yourself."
Zairo said that and turned his eyes outside the window.
Kanade gazed vaguely at his profile.
(Zairo-san stayed here the whole time too, I wonder.)
The thought made the depths of his chest grow warm again.
—That was when it happened.
Pat-pat-pat—footsteps came running down the corridor.
A hurried sound, rudely shattering the infirmary's stillness.
"Bad news! Bad news, Kanade!"
The door burst open.
Bursting in was Benedim Leopool, the nominal commander of Penal Hero Unit 9004. A man who usually gave a flippant impression, today his face was drawn tighter than ever.
"Benedim-san, what's wrong?"
"A visitor! Someone's come to the fortress gate looking for you, and it's something else!"
Benedim ran to Kanade's bed, gasping for breath.
"Something else, you say..."
"An iron mask! A woman wearing an iron mask! And her presence is razor-sharp—two of the gate guards collapsed on the spot!"
Iron mask.
Kanade had no recollection of those words.
"...Who is it?"
Zairo glared at Benedim, his voice low.
"That's what I'm saying—she came looking for Kanade! Is she an acquaintance of yours, Kanade?"
"I... can't think of anyone."
Kanade shook his head.
It hadn't been long since he was flung into this other world. There was no way he had an acquaintance here who would come looking for him.
"...Let her through. Bring her here."
Zairo ordered curtly.
"What, are you serious?! That iron mask, here?"
"Because you're panicking. Get going."
"F-Fine..."
Benedim went running back down the corridor with the same clatter.
Kanade shrank slightly on the bed.
(A woman in an iron mask...)
He had no idea who she could be.
But deep in his chest, something stirred uneasily.
—How much time passed after that?
This time, quiet footsteps echoed down the corridor.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Regular, unwavering, hard-soled footsteps.
Utterly different from Benedim's frantic ones.
Kanade sat up in bed.
His throat hurt. But this was no time to dwell on that.
The door slowly opened.
—And standing there was.
A girl with glossy black hair that reached her waist, cut evenly at the shoulders.
Jet-black eyes that betrayed no emotion.
White skin, well-shaped lips.
And on her left wrist, a silver bracelet.
She held the iron mask down at her hip.
She had removed it.
She had taken off the mask.
"...Kuon Kanade."
The girl called Kanade's name without expression.
Her voice was flat, devoid of warmth.
"...Yes. Um, you are?"
"Frenzy Mastibolt. Daughter of the Southern Night Oni's chieftain house."
Frenzy walked straight toward Kanade's bed.
Zairo stepped forward, one pace, as if to shield Kanade.
"...You, of the Night Oni."
Zairo's voice sharpened for an instant.
Southern Night Oni.
It was the first time Kanade had heard the term.
But from Zairo's reaction, it was clear she was no ordinary visitor.
Frenzy glanced at Zairo once, then immediately returned her gaze to Kanade.
"I haven't annulled the engagement."
—Eh.
Kanade's thoughts went blank.
(Engagement? Annulled? What is she talking about?)
"Um, excuse me. What are you referring to..."
"The engagement between you and me."
Frenzy declared it without expression.
"You and I were engaged. Ever since before you were flung into this world."
Kanade doubted his own ears.
(I'm engaged to this person?)
(Since before I was flung into this world?)
He couldn't make sense of it.
"I... shouldn't have ever met you."
"Correct. You don't know me. But I know you."
Frenzy gently touched the silver bracelet on her left wrist.
"This is the proof of the Night Oni's covenant. Your engagement to me lives on as a covenant, even now."
Kanade was thrown into confusion.
His head spun.
(What does this mean?)
(Before I came to this world? I was just an ordinary high school student in Japan.)
"...Hey, wait. Is that story true?"
Zairo glared at Frenzy.
"It's true. The Night Oni's covenant cannot be annulled. It carries a different weight from the promises of your world."
Frenzy didn't flinch even under Zairo's gaze.
"...Tch. This just got to be a real pain in the ass."
Zairo clicked his tongue.
Theolitta looked back and forth between Kanade and Frenzy with evident fascination.
"Oh? So the singer of my knight had a betrothed. What an interesting woman."
Sparks crackled from Theolitta's hair.
Kanade turned bright red.
"Um, that is, I really don't know anything about this..."
"You don't need to know. It's only natural that you don't."
Frenzy said that and reached into her breast pocket.
Then she held out a single notebook.
A worn, leather-bound notebook.
The moment Kanade saw it, his breath stopped.
(That's)
He recognized it.
No—recognizing it was an understatement.
He had carried it with him every single day.
His own notebook, where he'd written down poems in Japan.
"That's... my notebook."
"Yes. You dropped it when you were flung into this world."
Frenzy placed the notebook in Kanade's hand.
It was heavy.
That day, when he opened the old poetry collection in the library.
As light enveloped him and his consciousness faded, it had certainly slipped from his hand.
"Why do you have this..."
"I've been chasing you since the moment you were flung here."
Frenzy spoke flatly.
"When you appeared in the library of the Imperial Capital Astrea, I noticed immediately. Since then, I've been tracking your whereabouts the entire time."
Kanade was speechless.
(Since right after I was flung here, the whole time?)
(This person, chasing me?)
"I know everything—that you were sentenced to be a hero, that you were sent to this fortress."
Frenzy's jet-black eyes stared straight at Kanade.
Her emotions were unreadable.
But the intensity of that gaze eloquently told the weight of her words.
"...Why would you go that far?"
"Because my betrothed belongs to me."
Frenzy said it as if it were nothing.
"I'd be troubled if you went and died on your own. My betrothed belongs to me."
Kanade's chest tightened.
(This person, what is she saying right now—)
"I don't dislike your poems. Don't misunderstand. This is just a confirmation of fact, per Night Oni custom."
Having said that, Frenzy averted her gaze just slightly.
That gesture was strangely human.
Kanade clutched the notebook to his chest with both hands.
The feel of the leather was nostalgic.
(There was someone who chased after me.)
(Ever since I was flung into this world, the whole time.)
The depths of his chest grew hot.
Tears welled up.
But he couldn't cry in front of Frenzy.
Kanade bit his lip and held back the tears.
"...Thank you very much. It's something precious to me."
Kanade said it with all the voice he could muster.
Frenzy gave a small nod, expressionless.
"...I see. Then that's fine."
Then Frenzy turned toward Zairo.
"You're this child's superior? Don't let this child die. They're my betrothed."
"...I know. They're my unit's people. I don't intend to let them die."
Zairo answered clearly, though with a sour look.
"I see. Then I'll trust you."
Having said only that, Frenzy looked at Kanade one more time.
"I'll come again. To confirm you're properly alive."
Then she quietly left the room, just as she had come.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
The footsteps receded.
Silence returned to the room.
"...Tch. What a terrifying woman."
Zairo let out a big sigh.
"An interesting woman. Singer of my knight, you're quite a handful."
Theolitta laughed happily.
Kanade stayed hunched over, clutching the notebook.
His face was hot.
(A betrothed, huh...)
(To think I had someone like that.)
It was a strange feeling—ticklish, almost embarrassing.
—That evening.
Kanade left the infirmary bed and was summoned to the fortress's strategy room.
"...Are you sure? You don't have to push yourself."
Zairo walked alongside Kanade.
"I'm fine. I'm already feeling much better."
Kanade's voice was still hoarse.
But his body moved better than expected.
When they stood before the strategy room door, Zairo opened it first.
Inside, a single woman stood waiting.
Her straight black hair was gathered in a single bundle at the back. Sharp, narrow black eyes. Her deep blue military uniform didn't have a speck of dust on it.
Former commander of the Thirteenth Holy Knight Order, overseer of the hero system—Patoshe Kivia.
"You've come."
Kivia's voice was cold and stern, as always.
But Kanade still remembered her soft voice after that battle, echoing in his ears.
"I heard you called for me, so I came."
"...Sit. Both of you."
Kivia remained standing on the far side of the desk and gestured to them.
Kanade and Zairo sat side by side in the chairs.
Kivia looked straight at them both.
Silence filled the room.
Then Kivia slowly bowed her head.
Deeply.
"Before, I said heroes were pawns. I retract those words."
Kanade's eyes widened.
(Kivia-san is bowing her head...)
"...I'm sorry."
Kivia's voice trembled.
No—it so
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